NAVIGATION HAZARD – Barnstable mooring officer Joe Gibbs tags what in all likelihood is an abandoned skiff on Ropes Beach in Cotuit. Actual removal of abandoned boats will take place shortly into the new year.

Tag, you’re it.

“It” in this case likely translates into a trip to a landfill.

Joe Gibbs, Barnstable mooring officer, tagged about 20 boats at Ropes Beach in Cotuit for eventual removal Dec. 15. That was the official start date for a new boat removal regulation for the town-owned beach, long littered year round with small, often decrepit crafts.

The new regulation requires removal of all boats between Nov. 15 and March 15 annually. Those that remain will be considered abandoned, and removed. As this is the first year, the effective date was advanced to Dec. 15.

More than half of the skiffs and other craft at the beach have been removed since adoption of the regulation in November.

Some floatable boats remain on the shore, but it appears most will find their way to the scrap heap. There is a small piece of private property between the town-owned boat ramp and beach. Gibbs said the town cannot touch boats on that property. Monday morning (Dec. 15), the property owner could be found relocating boats off his land onto the town-owned portion of beach.

Gibbs said that the plan is to remove what remains shortly after the new year. Disposal of the boats, most of which are fiberglass, is something of an issue, as the town’s transfer station cannot accept them. Gibbs said there are a couple of on-Cape options, both for a by-the-pound fee.